17 June 2007

The Houston Astros are coming to "LosAngeles of Anaheim" this week, and they'll be doing so with a giant conundrum on their hands. It's a future Hall of Famer. It's Craig Biggio.

Unfortunately for all involved, Biggio's march towards 3,000 hits has been painfully long. The team had developed Chris Burke as his heir at second base, but he's been waiting around for two years now. The Astros tried Biggio in center field for a while, but that experiment ended with him back at second. In the ultimate test of loyalty, the Astros and Biggio have stuck together through thick and thin. They even survived the Astrodome. But these days it's more thin than thick.

Biggio is only 11 hits from becoming the ninth player to amass all of his hits with one team, joining Cal Ripken, George Brett, Tony Gwynn, Robin Yount, Al Kaline, Stan Musial, Carl Yastrzemski and Roberto Clemente.But Biggio is limping towards 3,000. He's hitting .237 for the season with a .280 on-base percentage. Biggio is projected to get his historic hit by the end of the month, and you have to wonder if Burke will be getting his chance at second not long after that.

"It's a balancing act," Astros GM Tim Purpura said, "with what he's done for this team and this city and what is best for the future of this team."

Purpura and the Astros have been put in a tough situation both with Biggio and Jeff Bagwell the last few seasons. But for the most part they've seemed to balance the need to win as well as the loyalty that usually is just a memory from days past. You wouldn't want to see Biggio reach hit 3,000 in a Devil Rays uniform, would you? The Astros have done more than their part, earning the notion that they are an organization that treats their players right. Now its time to start thinking about themselves, and their 8 game deficit in the NL Central.

13 comments:

Kevin
said...

I respect the hell out of Craig Biggio, but is he HOF material? Biggio has never been one of the top 20 players in the game during any portion of his career..........and has never been the best player in baseball at his position or even the best player on the 'Stros. Those tend to be some slam dunk HOF criterian.

So what if he played 2B? Doesn't that mean that they should stack his numbers against othe 2Bmen? We don't measure pitchers against outfielders, we measure them against other pitchers. . .even to the point that we don't measure starters vs. relievers vs. closers, etc. That being said, he was great, but HOF? Maintaining a starting job in MLB at any position for an extended period of time is very difficult, yes, but it's to the point now with healthier players playing longer that we need to start distinguishing between true greatness and longevity. Especially counting him against his peers in the same era. . .

Biggio moved to center, then left field, because the Astros had Jeff Kent, who had almost none of Biggio's defensive flexibility. Biggio moved back to second after Kent signed with the Dodgers. Chris Burke may have been a high draft pick, and a prospect, but he's hardly a future star. He was given the every day centerfielder job this year, and was sent down to AAA after one month.

Biggio is the all-time leader in doubles among right-handed hitters He was the best 2B in baseball for most of the 90's (only Alomar can argue this). He was an all-star at catcher and second base, and I doubt there's been many other, if any other, all-star catchers who've been an all-star at another position aside from first base.

Biggio and Bagwell are both HOF'ers. Also, don't forget that they both played in one of the worst hitters parks of all-time--- The Astrodome.

If you remember in the mid 90s there was a year or two around 1994 where the Astros made it practically impossible to hit home runs. They covered up the gap between the normal fence (330 down the lines and 380 to the power alleys) and the structural concrete wall with an angled "roof". Basically you had to hit the ball at least 10-20 feet extra in distance, plus an extra 5-10 feet in height, to get a homer and a lot of times those hits that were previously homers would go for doubles after bouncing off of the top of the 'wall'. The best way to explain what I am discussing is to imaging he baskets in Wrigley. Instead of being able to hit balls into them for a homer, imagine the baskets being covered on the top so you couldn't hit into them.

Biggio is also a HOF'er because of his versatility and durability. Remember he stole over 20 bases in one season as a catcher.

My college friend owns a copy of Bill James' baseball prospectus from 2000, and in it, James rates Biggio as "the best player currently in baseball." He has Biggio in the top thirty of his greatest players of all time. Biggio is the highest rated current player in that list, well ahead of Barry Bonds. He provides the numbers for his argument that Biggio was the best baseball player of the 90's. Better than Griffey and Bonds. I don't know how much stock you want to put into that. James is also the guy who says Joe Morgan is the best second baseman of all time and that Reggie Jackson was better then Roberto Clemente. As for Biggio, I think he's an obvious lock for the hall of fame. 3,000 hits and also one of the most versatile players to ever play the game. He could play any position on the diamond, except for pitcher.